Fitting In And Sticking Out
by Karysa Mercury
Summary: Jett Onyx is totally normal. Totally not.
1. Emerge

_**Hey all! I just found this lying around my computer, so I fixed it up and decided to post it. Please tell me if you like it or not, and if you do I'll continue! Please enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: Mutants and x-men and all the rest don't belong to me nor am I making any profit off this. Jett's mine and Cessily's an Evo adaptation, so she's not going to be much like the comic incarnation except for her powers and name. Sorry, but I don't have a lot of Cessily material available to me. Please don't hurt me! (No Flames, please)  
**_

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Thunder. All she heard, all she knew, all she trusted.

"Darrel, Edward?"

"Present!"

The storm outside the window rumbled, though to her it seemed to purr. She twitched, dreading the long day ahead of her.

"Kincaid, Cessily?"

"Here, miss."

She hated school. With her luck, the storm would be over before classes ended.

"Mercury, Thomas?"

"Huh? Oh, present."

The sky beckoned to her. Bloody school. She never learnt anything anyway. Because she was always staring out the window, pining for the sky.

"Pay more attention next time, Mercury. Onyx, Juliet?"

But the sky was so beautiful to her. How could she help but stare? During the night was best, with all the glittering stars, like shining gems in a near black sea.

"Onyx, Juliet?"

Teachers had moved her away from the window, or closed the blinds, trying to make her pay attention, but their efforts were useless. If she couldn't see the sky, she'd dream of it, and no one could stop her doing that.

She felt someone elbow her in the arm.

"Is there a Juliet Onyx here?" shouted the irritated teacher. The daydreamer finally looked up.

"It's Jett, actually," she replied, and went back to staring out the window.

The teacher paused for a second, then reminded herself why her predecessor had decided on early retirement. In her resignation statement, there had been an entire paragraph on the horrible student known as Karen Juliet Onyx. Deciding not to get on the young girl's bad side, she continued with the roll.

"Samson, George?"

(X)

Two girls sat side-by-side, leaning against the wall. The taller of the two had red hair and lots of freckles, with green eyes. The other, slightly shorter with pale skin, jet-black hair and stormy grey eyes, was eating a sandwich, looking at the sky.

"Did you see a UFO once or something?" asked Cessily idly, gently prodding her friend in the shoulder. Jett lowered her gaze slightly. Cessily was constantly trying to discover the source of her friend's fascination with the sky. Jett turned to look at her.

"I just like the sky, okay? And no, I have never seen an alien space craft nor do I believe in them."

"You don't believe in aliens? Why, my next door neighbour was abducted just two months ago!"

Jett rolled her eyes. "Funny, she said she was going to boarding school," she replied. "Unless you count boarding school as the alien mother ship."

"Well, it did have a weird name. The Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters. And the initials of that are 'XIFGY'. 'Xifgy'. It's probably the name of some alien race or planet, don't you think?"

Jett was now totally focused on the conversation. "You're insane, Cess. You just think it's extra-terrestrial because it's name begins with an 'x'."

"What, you don't believe in the evil, x-bearing aliens?"

"You've been watching far too much Doctor Who."

"You can't have too much of a good thing."

"It's not a documentary, for goodness' sake. Xavier's is not an alien conspiracy."

"X-conspiracy," Cessily corrected, and laughed. Jett turned away, rolling her eyes, but was smirking nonetheless. It sometimes seemed a shame to keep her secret from Cessily, who was, in Jett's opinion, the best friend anyone could ever have. But some things you could only trust yourself with.

(X)

**Two weeks later**.

Jett entered the house silently, but her foster mother was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"I got a complaint from your maths teacher," said Mrs Aliss. "She says you haven't been paying attention in class, and that it's starting to reflect on your grades."

Mrs Aliss was a decent person, and was a relatively good foster mother. But Jett had been having a bad day.

"Ms Edwards got her degree off the internet. She's hardly qualified to point out my shortcomings," retorted the black haired girl, pushing past her foster mother and walking up the stairs.

"Get back down here young lady–" Jett closed the door to her room behind her and locked it. She threw herself onto her bed.

There was too much going on in her life at the moment. She needed some time by herself to sort it out.

Okay, first and foremost, Cess hadn't been at school for the past few weeks. So, call her.

Jett punched in her friend's number, taking her frustration out on the phone. She listened impatiently to the dial tone.

"Uh, hello," Cessily answered cautiously. Jett blinked. This wasn't normal. Cess was a bit shy, but this time she sounded scared, terrified.

"Hey, Cess."

"Jett?"

"The one and only. Why are you so nervous? Isn't this your private line?"

There was a pause at the other end as Cessily digested her statement.

"Uh, yeah, yes it is. Wait, are you sure you're Jett?"

"Am I sure I'm me? Hmm, wait a sec, I'll go check. Duh I'm me, Cess. What's up?"

"Prove it. What makes you so sleepy all the time?"

"Severe iron deficiency. Anything else, Miss Paranoid?"

"Yeah. What iron tablets do you take? What brand?"

"What brand? How should I know? It's not like I pay any attention to those sorts of things."

But Cessily wasn't backing down. "Answer the question."

"Fine. Um, Ferro Grad or something like that? They're red."

Jett was considering checking the bottle when she heard Cess give a relieved sigh at the other end. "Oh, good, it is you. Why did you call?"

"You haven't been at school for ages, Cess. What's been happening?"

"I'm just… sick. Yeah, I'm sick. It's just a sickness. I'll be better soon…"

Cess was ranting. She sounded more like she was reassuring herself than informing Jett. Jett got a nagging doubt at the back of her mind. The possibilities flashed past her eyes but were interrupted by a crash on Cess' end of the line. Jett heard Cess scream and someone yell "_Monster!"_ before the call cut off.

Jett's hand went limp, letting the phone drop to the floor. Crap.

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	2. Escape

_**I'm back! and within reasonable time, too. I warn you, I'm not usually this fast, but the chapters aren't usually this short either, and I'll never give up on a story completely. I'll try to keep updates relatively regular, as I've got it (vaguely) planned out. Your opinion still counts! Thanks to those who read, and a special thanks to Mourning-Star-Under-The-Moon, ****demonlrd66, and ****XxXFairyQueenXxX, whose reviews encouraged me to update so soon (for me)!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own X-men: Evolution. I own Jett.  
**_

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"You, you _freak! _What on God's green earth _are_ you?"

"I'm sorry, Mom," Cessily sobbed, the glass from the vase her mother had thrown at her cutting into her arm. They had caught her talking to Jett on the phone in her room. She hadn't been out in weeks, ever since _it_ started. Her parents were trying to figure out what to do with her.

Her father held his wife back.

"Don't touch it," he cautioned. "It's a mutant; you might get infected."

"What are we going to do with it? It _killed_ Cessily!"

"I _am_ Cessily, Mom!" their daughter cried miserably. They ignored her. Her father puller his wife outside and locked the door.

"Jim said he might be able to help," she heard him say. "There's a group downtown who take care of things like this. The Friends Of Humanity."

Cessily didn't care. She had no idea who the "_Friends Of Humanity_" were, or what they did. She didn't know what was going to happen to her. She looked up and caught sight of herself in the mirror.

"Am I a mutant?" she whispered in horror. She didn't know a lot about mutants, except that they were powerful and dangerous and not human. The news reports had been pretty vague.

Suddenly, she noticed a tapping sound coming from the window. Cautiously, she came to her feet and tiptoed towards the curtains. Peering out, she saw a dark, gently moving figure in the darkness.

"Cess! It's me!"

"Jett? Is that _you_?"

It was Jett, bobbing gently up and down in the air. And behind her…

Cessily threw open the curtains but it only made what she had seen clearer: Jett had huge, black, feathered wings growing from her back.

"Jett," she choked out. "You're... you're a _mutant?!_"

Jett raised an eyebrow as her wings beat tirelessly in the air.

"Hate to break it to you, Cess, but so are you."

Cessily looked down at her silver arms and grinned weakly. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Then she pulled out the fly screen and Jett slid inside, wings folding against her back. Cessily marvelled at how they could go from huge to barely there in the space of a second.

"So, why are you here?"

Jett seemed totally unfazed by Cess's shining skin, turning to her just as readily as she would do at the school during lunchtime, when the Irish girl had said something particularly unobservant.

"Cess, I just heard your Mum, of all people, throw a vase at you," she said, eying the shards on the carpet, "and now your dad's going to hand you over to the F-O-H! I'm here to save your butt, as per usual." Jett gave a grin, but her quickly scanning eyes and the way she rolled on the balls of her feet gave away her nervousness.

"You heard that?" Cess asked, equally nervous. She had no idea what her parents would do if they came in and found her talking to her _mutant_ friend; but judging but Jett's tone when she said "F.O.H." that was the least of her worries.

"Cess, do you have any idea what the Friends Of Humanity _do_ to mutants?!" When her silver skinned friend shook her head, Jett continued. "I once had a foster brother who was mutant too. I was eleven, and my wings were just growing. Anyways, he was pretty nice. His powers were about as harmless as his personality: you just couldn't hurt him. He was invulnerable. That's the only reason he survived the F.O.H. attack."

"Attack?"

"He was ten when mutants were first publicly revealed. He and some other kids in his neighbourhood were outed as mutants to the newly formed F.O.H. They abducted them and…" Here Jett trailed off with a strange choking noise. Cessily looked at her worriedly.

"And what?"

Jett gulped, then took a deep breath.

"They tortured them. Burnt them. And then they killed them."

Cessily gaped in horror as she realised her friend was perfectly serious.

"He got out and eventually social services found him and, not knowing he was a mutant, took him in because his parents had been killed: he thinks by the F.O.H."

"Was he…? Are you…?" Cessily struggled to find the words. Jett nodded sadly.

"Sixteen kids, all dead. Most of their parents too."

"Oh God," the silver skinned mutant choked out. "We really have to out of here."

"Exactly," said Jett, setting the matter of the F.O.H. aside. "Now grab some clothes and stuff, before your parents get back."

Shaking, Cessily did so. As she packed hurriedly, her panicked thoughts spun in her head. She was a mutant? Jett was a mutant? Would the F.O.H. kill them? Just how many mutants were there out there?

What exactly were mutants, anyway? It was clear the media's definition was highly flawed. Neither Jett nor Cessily herself had fangs or claws: and so far neither had been hit by a sudden urge to kill humans. But both looked very different from normal humans: Cess was silver, and Jett had huge black wings sprouting from her back. And how could Cess be a mutant, if both her parents were human?

"You ready yet?" asked Jett nervously, whose acute hearing had picked up the sound of several people entering the house and starting to come up the stairs.

"It'll do," Cess said quickly, throwing the backpack over her shoulder. Then, going to the window, she let out a very un-Cess-like curse and turned to Jett.

"Jett, they've actually _surrounded_ the place! How do we get out?"

Jett gave her a very _duh_-esque look. "I _can_ fly, remember?"

"But they'll shoot you! They have rifles, Jett!"

But her friend just smirked. "They can _try_. I have been doing this for four odd years."

"While carrying people?"

"Yes."

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Trust me, Cess. And we're far more likely to survive this way anyway."

And with that encouraging thought, she slipped out into the darkening night.

…

Cess had never been so terrified, or totally in awe, in her life.

Jett's massive wings swooped above her, easily avoiding clumsy shots from the mutant haters below. You'd think they'd be an easy shot, a girl with ten-foot wings flying with a bright silver girl hanging by her arms, but the light was fading fast and the boundaries of their forms seemed to shimmer in the sky. That and Jett was right: she had had a lot of practise. She simply soared through the sky, wings only beating occasionally to gain altitude.

They'd stopped at Jett's house where she'd grabbed a prepacked bag of clothes, etc.: as a teenage mutant, she was always prepared. The F.O.H. had followed them, of course, but the two mutants were easily distancing themselves from the mob.

"Hey Cess," Jett called from above her, spotting something on the horizon. "Wanna catch a train?"

Cess followed the direction of her gaze. "They wouldn't let us on; and we don't have money anyway."

"That's okay. I wasn't planning on paying."

"But…" Cessily began to protest, then realised it was probably their only chance of escaping the F.O.H. They may be ahead of them now, but Jett was getting tired; not to mention Cess's arms were _aching_.

"Oh, alright," the silver girl sighed. Jett nodded and began to descend.

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	3. Institute

_**Hey People! Not much Cess and Jett in this chapter, but hopefully that's okay. Thanks to everyone who's reading this, and special thanks to Mourning Star Under The Moon and demonlrd66 for reviewing the last chapter. Hope you like it, please R&R!****  
**_

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**_The Next Morning_**

"Cess! Cess, wake up!" Cessily Kincaid groaned and rolled over, landing on a particularly pointy piece of luggage. She sat up and looked around. She was in a train luggage compartment. Oh, joy. Jett, wings covered by a plain black jacket, had been trying to shake her awake. Cessily heard talking in the distance.

"The train's about to stop, Cess. We've got to get off."

"How do we do that? It's morning, they'll see us!"

Jett handed her a light blue hoodie. "Put this on and bring the hood over your face. It's one of mine, so it should be big enough."

Cessily did as she was ordered while Jett went through their escape plan.

"The station is on this side, so we stand next to that wall and duck out when no one's looking. If we succeed there, getting through the station should be easy: we're just another pair of teenagers getting off the train. But for God's sake, don't let anyone see your skin!"

Cess nodded wordlessly. It didn't seem like much of a plan, but it was all they could do.

She adjusted the bag on her back as Jett swung hers on. "And now?" she asked half heartedly, knowing the answer.

"We wait, obviously," was the reply.

(X)

_**Xavier Institute, New York**_

_Logan and Ororo, please come to Cerebro immediately._

"Looks like you're off early, kids," Logan grunted, and the New Mutants cheered. He rolled his eyes irritably. They were maturing physically, but the Canadian mutant feared they'd always be kids at heart. Then again, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. Logan himself wouldn't know: he couldn't remember his childhood.

He walked out of the obstacle course where they'd been training and headed up the steps in the manor. Kurt greeted him as he entered, and he muttered a gruff "Hey, Furball," in reply. His mind was elsewhere. Charles would never interrupt a training lesson unless it was urgent. And as he and Storm were the two most senior members of staff, it almost definitely involved new students. Logan sighed. Like they needed more.

"Chances are we'll have to fetch them from their mutant hating parents," he muttered loudly as Storm came up and fell into step with him. The African American woman opened her mouth to contradict him, then shut it abruptly, thinking of previous experiences. Parents had been less than welcoming before mutants were out; now they were downright hostile.

They arrived at Cerebro and the doors opened to reveal Professor Xavier, a grave expression on his face.

"What's up, Charles?" grunted Logan as he and Storm entered, doing an instinctive sweep of the room with his eyes to check they were alone. "You look like they've just banned mutants from using the bathroom or something."

The professor shook his head and turned back to Cerebro's screen. "Cerebro, show video file Delta C seventeen."

The screen lit up in bright white for a second, then a picture of an angry mob appeared on the screen. "Play," Xavier commanded, and the crowd began to cheer and wave.

The camera zoomed out to show the house they had surrounded.

"Yesterday at seven PM in Portland, Ohio, a large mob calling themselves the 'Friends Of Humanity' surrounded a house in which they had been informed a mutant was hiding." The camera zoomed in on a window on the second floor. "Despite valiant efforts," the voice over continued as a dark shape appeared from the window, "the creature escaped with the help of another mutant, who had been posing as a human at the school the daughter of the house's owners attended. As can be seen, the mutant virus had transformed the whole of the girl's body." The voice over paused for dramatic effect as someone with bright silver skin could be seen being flown away from the mob by a figure with huge black wings. "Their current location is unknown, and all unarmed residents are warned not to approach the mutants, as they are probably armed and always dangerous."

The video cut off and Xavier turn back to his head teachers. Logan snorted in disgust.

"All unarmed residents, eh? How old are these kids, sixteen?"

"Fifteen. Their names are Karen Juliet Onyx," as he said it Cerebro displayed a close up of the figure with black wings, "and Cessily Kincaid," the silver skinned girl was shown.

"Judging by her flying, Juliet has known of her mutation for quite some time," observed Ororo, studying a slow motion replay of the girl's assent into the air. "See? She was above the tree line before they even reached the fence."

"Any idea when the other girl's powers kicked in?" asked Logan gruffly. "Her parents own the house, I'm guessing."

"She stopped attending school around two weeks ago; I believe that's when the physical aspects of her mutation emerged. Other than that, I do not know."

"Do _you_ know where they are, Charles?" asked Storm. Cerebro's screen turned into a map of the United States.

"I last tracked them here," the Professor indicated a red dot on the screen. "The nature of Miss Onyx's mutation causes her brainwaves to constantly emit a frequency only slightly above those of regular humans. It is difficult to track, but it augments when she is panicked, excited, or scared. I will try again, and if I can find them, I would like you and Logan, Storm, to go extend an invitation to our school. I would also like you to take Lila and Ethan, to show that we're genuine."

Storm and Wolverine exchanged puzzled looks. "The new twerps?" Logan spoke up. "I mean, recruits? Aren't they a little bit young for this sort of thing?"

"Yes," added Ororo. "Why not Scott or Jean?"

Xavier smiled mysteriously. "Take a closer look at the address." They did.

"Kincaid lived _next door to them_?" Logan asked incredulously. "Are you serious? That place is a hot spot for mutants…"

"Actually, it's just a co-incidence. There have only been about twelve recorded mutant sightings in Portland, Ohio, in al of history. Nevertheless, Miss Kincaid does know Lila, even with her, uh, slightly more physical mutation. I think it would be reassuring for her, as she is clearly new to the world of mutants."

"All right, Professor," Storm conceded. "Should we go get Lila and Ethan now while you attempt to find our renegade mutants?"

"That would be much appreciated, thank you, Storm."

(X)

_**Bayville Mall**_

Lila and Ethan Dalton did not look like your average kids.

Their parents, while not being 'mutant lovers', were prepared for their children's mutations. Their mother, Elizabeth, had a sister who had developed mutant powers, and Lila and Ethan's father, Martin, had a niece who had been born a rather nice shade of purple. Martin and Elizabeth had taken this strangeness into account when they decided to have children, and had agreed that they would deal with it in a civilised manner.

So when Lila's hair grew electric blue streaks and Ethan started overloading the power grid, they called the Xavier Institute.

By the time Storm had arrived, a web of bright white was spread across Ethan's tanned skin, and Lila had similar markings on her hands, neck, and lower legs. This was a physical aspect of their respective mutations, and Ethan's practically glowed when his powers were at full charge. Lila put on gloves and let her brown hair hang loose, and told her friends she and her brother were being sent to boarding school.

"Hey mutie! Going back to your stinkin' mutie hideout, are ya?"

"Ignore them, Lila," advised Scott, putting a firm hand on the hot-headed mutant's shoulder. "They _want_ you to use your powers, so you'll be expelled."

"I wasn't planning on using my powers," Lila snarled, throwing a glare over her shoulder at the offending jocks. "I was _planning_ on smashing that stupid flatscan's face in."

Scott contemplated berating the younger mutant for calling James a _flatscan,_ but decided against it. The boy was like a smaller version of Duncan, and if anyone deserved an offensive nickname, it was him.

"Come on, Lils," said her brother, walking next to her. "Don't waste your time on those idiots, they're just jealous. Xavier's is one hell of an evil lair," he added, grinning.

It was a Saturday, and Lila and Ethan, who hadn't started training yet, were visiting the mall. Scott had agreed to drive them, though he'd warned them few shops would serve mutants. But while most had at first protested, Lila had taken each one aside and talked to them, and they had suddenly been more than happy to sell to them. Scott didn't know what she had said, but knowing Lila it was probably something along the lines of, "Yes, we're mutants, but we also have money, and intend to pay for whatever we get. So would you rather we wrecked the place and the owner dredges up whatever pitiful insurance they have and you get fired, or not start a fight and make some money off us anyway?"

They all agreed, though some insisted on the terms that whatever they tried on, they bought. Lila had acquired about half a wardrobe on this trip, while Ethan spent more moderately.

James, a boy from Bayville High, was hanging around with his friends and spotted the group. Lila and Ethan were Hispanic in ethnicity, and so their white markings showed them as mutants quite obviously, if you weren't persuaded by Lila's bright blue streaks. As soon as they'd arrived at the school, both of the Dalton twins had been singled out as targets, though they'd long since learnt how to hold their own in a fight without using powers. James, after receiving a broken nose in the first week back, had decided just to stand back and hurl insults at the young mutants whenever they passed.

"Yeah, that's right, run away, you stinkin' mutie trash!" jeered one of James' idiot friends. Lila froze, every muscle tensing. Scott tightened his grip on her shoulder, hoping she didn't choose to go after them. Lila was a lot stronger than she looked, and even Scott wasn't sure he could hold her if she got mad.

"Lils," Ethan whispered in her ear. "If you kill 'em, you'll just make martyrs out of them. People will probably mark this day and pause for a minute of silence. But if we leave them now, there's still a good chance at least one if them will choke on a gummy bear."

Lila took a deep, shaking breath, anger curdling inside her. Then, with a flick of her blue streaked hair and a casual, "Let's go," she stalked out of the mall.

(X)

_**Xavier Institute**_

"Lila, Ethan," called Storm as they entered the front hall. Scott wandered off as the African American woman approached, comfortable that he was leaving them in safe hands.

"Hey Storm," Lila greeted, dragging several bags of shopping. The weather witch raised an elegant eyebrow.

"They actually served you?" she asked mildly. Lila nodded, grinning.

"Oh, Lila can be quite persuasive when she wants to," Ethan replied, glaring at his sister. Ororo started to feel alarmed.

"You threatened the shop assistants?" She demanded. Lila smiled evilly.

"Not... overtly…" Storm sighed.

"We'll talk about this later. Do you know a girl called Cessily Kincaid?"

"Uh…" Ethan searched his memory. Lila nudged him.

"Yeah, she lived next door, remember? Red head, kinda tall, with freckles."

"Oh yeah, Cess. What about her?"

"Well," said Storm cautiously, "Let's just say she isn't freckled anymore. You should probably get your shopping away, we'll walk and talk."

"O…kay," Lila replied, a bit confused. Just then Logan emerged running from the lower levels.

"Storm," he said, not even panting slightly. "We'd better get moving. The Professors found the kids."

"Why the hurry? Is something wrong?"

"Charles says," Logan replied gravely, "_Cessily is using her powers_."

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	4. Ailuranthrope

_**Hi Peoples! **_**_New chapter! Not only that, but a new character with a past that's a mystery – even to himself! No, seriously, thanks to anyone who's reading this, and an extra special thanks to Mourning Star Under The Moon and demonlrd66 for reviewing__! I hope you like it!_**

_**Disclaimer**_**_: I do not own X-men evolution or any characters associated with it. Or Cessily Kincaid, though she is very cool.__ I do own Jett Onyx, Lila and Ethan Dalton, and Tyler. _**

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Cess had only known she was a mutant for a bit over two weeks, and she was already getting a strong impression a large percentage of the population wanted her dead.

Why? Perhaps you should ask the woman who was pointing a gun at her face.

"Die, mutie!" the woman yelled as she let off a round. Cessily extended her arm and it stretched, finally leaving her completely and smashing the bullets from the air. Then it sucked back into her body.

The mutant hater looked aghast and tried to shoot again, only to discover she was out of bullets. She had no time to reload as Jett swooped down and ripped the gun from her hands. The black-winged mutant flew upwards then threw the weapon to the ground, smashing it to tiny pieces. She then swooped back to where Cess and the other mutant were surrounded.

As she approached, the rather scrawny looking boy became a huge black panther and ripped a club from one of the mob's hands with his teeth. He had been captured by the two Friends of Humanity who had initially spotted them, and broke out when his captors were distracted by the mutant pair. Though they'd scared off the two mutant hunters together, there had been no time for introductions as the ordinary citizens walking the streets had soon become an angry mob, surrounding the three teens. Armed men and women had soon followed, and it was only a matter of time until the police would arrive.

The mutant trio were trapped. They were holding their own well enough, but as more and more of the mob gained weapons, the line advanced to circle the small group.

Jett was flying, but she was tired and could barely lift her own weight, let alone Cess and definitely not another person as well. Soon she'd have to land, making her fair game for the mutant hating crowd.

Then a strong updraught caught her wings and she floated effortlessly upwards. This was nice, she thought idly, but it wasn't helping.

Then she saw its source.

A black jet had landed _in the middle of the street_. The crowd turned to stare and Jett landed to rest on the building above Cess and the panther boy. Two adult figures emerged from the jet and the stockier of the two glared at the crowd.

"Back off, people," he grunted. "This is none of your business."

"Yeah it is!" cried a rather shrill sounding woman. "Those stinking muties are polluting our city!"

This was followed by a ragged chorus of "Yeah"s and "Get those freaks of our streets"s, but the skies darkened and it began to rain. The taller adult, a woman with white hair but youthful skin, stepped forward.

"How about you all leave us and get home, and I promise you will not find these children here again," she proposed calmly, but with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

There were a few cries of protest at the use of the word 'children' as opposed to 'monsters', but slowly the group dispersed and with muttered threats all the people left. It was cold and wet, and something in that woman's eyes told them it would get a whole lot colder if they decided to stick around. The short, growling man by her side didn't strike them as overly harmless either.

"Thanks," said Cess shakily. The boy nodded wordlessly, and Jett eyed them suspiciously.

"Why did you help us?" she asked bluntly. The woman looked up at them.

"We are from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters; gifted," she explained, eying the three odd-looking teens, "such as yourselves. There young mutants learn to control their powers and deal in a sensible manner with anti-mutant prejudice."

"And they were wondering," said Lila, sticking her head out of the jet and grinning, "if you'd like to enrol."

(X)

"And when our cousin Violet was born purple, our parents started looking for places to send us that wouldn't try to dissect us when we slept. And they found the Xavier Institute," Ethan finished.

"We have to go to Bayville High," Lila explained. "Which is pretty crap. But everything else is really cool."

Cess smiled through chattering teeth. The twins had been giving her an in depth explanation of their going to Xavier's, starting with explanations of their powers, then moving on to their (mutant) teachers and the other residents of the school. They'd finished up with a bit of the untold side of their family history.

They were halfway to New York and Cess was feeling decidedly better. Jett was curled up in the corner, a blanket wrapped around her, still shivering slightly. Cess nudged her with her toe.

"Hey Jett?"

"Yeah?"

"I told you it was aliens."

Jett grinned and reached out to give Cess a friendly prod. "We're not aliens, we're mutants. Get it right!"

Storm and Logan, as they now knew them, had been surprised at the cat-boy's presence, but did not seem to object and extended the invitation to him as well. However, when they asked him about himself, he looked up with his bright, feline eyes and whispered, "My name is Tyler. That's all I know."

(X)

"Hey Bobby, Amara, Sam!"

"Hey Jubes," grinned Bobby, coming down the small staircase to see Jubilee staring out the window. "What's the big deal?"

"They're back," the girl said, pointing. The X-jet hovered over the basketball court, which was opening to let it in. "With the new students."

"More new students?" asked Sam as he and Amara came down the stairs. Amara rolled her eyes.

"There are more people learning about their mutations every year, Sam. The Institute has to take at least some of them in."

"Let's go see what they look like," suggested Bobby, already heading for the elevator that led to the lower levels. The three other New Mutants followed him.

They quickly came to the flight hangar and saw Storm, Logan, Lila and Ethan emerge, followed by three other figures.

"Three of them?" asked Amara in surprise. "I heard there were only two?"

"Where'd you hear that?" asked Sam, but Jubilee shushed them as the arrivals approached.

The most obvious mutant was talking animatedly to Lila, a bright silver girl with long red hair. She and the two other newbies were totally drenched. The other girl was rather pale with black hair and dark, threatening eyes. She was wrapped in a X-men issue blanket, and walking in silence, though looking occasionally over with a curious expression to where Storm and the new boy were talking in hushed voices.

He was kind of scrawny, Bobby decided, and looked scared. He was probably a bit younger than the girls, who seemed about fifteen. He had messy chocolate brown hair, which was soaked with rain. He looked up at the four mutants, and they saw his eyes were startling amber.

"Ah, Amara," Storm said. "Could you and Lila show Cessily and Jett to a room in the girls' wing. Do you mind sharing?" she asked the two girls. They shook their heads. "Good. They only have a bit of luggage, which they should probably get out now. Perhaps one of you could give them a tour after dinner?"

"Yeah, sure," said Lila, and Amara agreed as well.

"I'll come too," volunteered Jubilee. Jett discarded the blanket, as the mansion was heated. Cess and Jett got their backpacks, and the two New Mutant girls were amazed by their lack of belongings.

"Did something happen to you two or something?" Jubilee asked. Jett shot her a look that said _you have __**no idea**_, while Cess just muttered, "It's a long story…"

The trip to the upper levels went in relative silence, but even Jett's eyes widened slightly when they reached the luxurious main floor.

"Whoa," breathed Cessily, then realised it was practically the first thing she'd said to the two older girls. Not wanting to get off the a bad start, she asked, "So you guys live here?"

Amara and Jubilee grinned at her wonderment. "Yep," Jubilee replied. "I'm Jubilation Lee, by the way, but everyone calls me Jubilee. This," she said, indicating her friend, "is Amara, also known as Magma, and I think you already know Lila."

"Only vaguely," Lila admitted, as it was at least partially addressed to the winged girl. Jett raised an eyebrow at the less than typical introductions.

"Well, this is Cess, otherwise known as Cess; and my real name is Karen Juliet, but everyone with out a death wish calls me Jett."

"So, what can you do?" Jubilee asked, curiosity getting the better of her. The question was directed to Jett.

"Me?" She blinked. "Oh just this," she said casually, dropping her backpack and taking a running jump into the air. Her huge black wings unfurled and she swooped up to the top of the staircase in seconds.

"You guys coming?"

…

"Please, come in, Tyler, Ororo," the Professor's calm voice came through the speakers. The boy shivered slightly. He looked, thought Storm, trying not to laugh at the young mutant, a bit like a kitten that demanded to go out when it was raining and was now deeply regretting his insistence.

The door to Professor Xavier's office opened silently and the weather witch led the scrawny teenager inside. The Professor greeted him warmly.

"Hello, Tyler. Welcome to the Xavier Institute; I'm Charles Xavier, the headmaster," he extended a hand, which Tyler shook, watching the wheelchair-bound man with cautious amber eyes. "Please, take a seat. Now, I hear you are having some problems remembering certain details about yourself. We understand that this is not your fault, and would like to help. My mutant ability is telepathy, so with your permission I would like to enter your mind and try and help you recover your memories. Are you comfortable with that arrangement?"

Tyler nodded silently. He felt a stab of unfounded fear at having someone in his head, though he knew there was nothing there to hide. After a moment of hesitation, he voiced his concern in a soft whisper.

"You won't…touch anything, will you? Alter it, I mean?" He gripped the chair; whole body tensing as he worried if he'd said something offensive.

Xavier looked quite shocked, but not angry. "Of course not," he reassured the frightened shape-shifter. "I am merely going to observe and hopefully find the information you cannot retrieve. However, if there is anything else you consider personal or private, and would rather I didn't see, just imagine a door in your mind over the memory and close it."

"Is that alright, Tyler?" Storm asked, rather concerned by the tension so obvious in the boy's stance. But as the Professor promised not to invade, he relaxed and nodded to the graceful woman.

"It's fine…" he searched for a term of address. She smiled at the shy boy. He was so different to Bobby, Ray, or even Jamie. He also didn't seem like the type who'd grown up on the streets. Storm wondered if his parents had attacked him and the trauma had blocked his memory. The mother inside her flared in anger at the thought. How could people treat their own children like that?

"My name is Ororo Munroe," she told him. "But here I am known as Storm."

He nodded again. Professor Xavier asked if he was ready.

"As I'll ever be," the cat-boy admitted. The headmaster held his hand up to his temples and entered Tyler's mind.

…

The minds of most are like beehives, with more crevices and hidey-holes than a single person could know. Tyler's mind was uneven. His knowledge was as vast as the next person's, his instincts were strong and vibrant through his feline abilities, but his memories were severely lacking. There was the walk up to Xavier's office, the flight to the mansion, being saved from the mob. There was breaking out of window and fighting off two men who were threatening two other mutants. Tyler had known that they were called mutants. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.

Before that was sitting in a dog crate in the back of a van for hours on end. He had occasionally been insulted or harassed by the F-o-H member in the back with him, and at one point the man had pulled out a pocket knife and tried to stab the young mutant with it through the bars of the portable prison which Tyler had woken up inside.

And then… nothing.

Or rather than nothing, the space where something had been before… but wasn't now.

Charles Xavier extracted himself from the younger mutant's mind and cast a worried glance to Storm. Then he addressed Tyler, who looked a bit shaken.

"Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything more than what I presume is your memory of your life prior to meeting our teachers. However, you are still invited to stay at our school," here he paused for a response, and the feline mutant nodded shyly. "Good. I will ask Ethan to come show you to your room. Right now, you'll have it to yourself, but later you may have to share." Again, the boy nodded and the Professor send out a telepathic request.

_Ethan, could you please come to my office and show our new student to one of the spare rooms?_

Ethan came and went, taking Tyler with him. When both boys were gone, Xavier turned to Storm.

"It causes me great concern, Ororo," he mused. "Tyler has all the basic knowledge you'd expect from a boy of fourteen, but only a few days worth of memories."

"A few days worth?" she asked, shocked. "Is he some kind of clone?"

The professor shook his head. "I don't think so. Aside from other things, he had a form of mental scaring on his memory banks, which, along with his unconscious fear of having his mind altered, leads me to believe that for whatever reason, a powerful telepath has forcibly removed all of his memories."

"But he was captured by the F-o-H. How could mutant strong enough to remove memories permanently be overpowered by two mutant haters?"

"I thought of that, too. That's what worries me. It seems almost like whoever erased Tyler's memories was simply removing them as a precaution.

"A precaution?"

"Yes," replied the Professor pensively. "It is my belief that they were using the Friends of Humanity to dispose of him."

* * *

_**I hope the New Mutants weren't too ooc.**** If you didn't read the disclaimer, Lila and Ethan are OCs, as is Tyler (who vaguely resembles Catseye of the Hellions. Except, you know, he's a guy)**_.

_**Hope you liked it; Please Review!**_


	5. Hatred

_**Hey! Just a warning, I'm not entirely sure why I wrote it that way but this chapter's kinda... violent, and contains swearing and other stuff. Though I'd still like you to read it, if you're offended or anything by that sort of stuff but like the story and want to keep reading it, I'll include a summary of this chapter in the next one so you can keep reading. This chapter is rated around T, maybe a bit higher.  
**_

_**Special thanks to demonlrd66 for reviewing. And for anyone who was wondering, 'Ailuranthrope' (the title of the previous chapter) means someone who can turn into cats, a werecat of sorts.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own X-men: Evolution or anything associated with it. I don't own Cessily Kincaid either. I do own Jett Onyx, Ethan and Lila Dalton, and Tyler. Coach Teague is a guy (with a name stolen from 'Smallville') that just popped into my head, but I'd rather not own him, as he's a bit of a jerk.**_

_**I'll shut up now, on with the story...  
**_

* * *

"Jett, you are so not getting the last waffles!" Kitty yelled as she phased through Bobby and Jubilee, running towards the kitchen. Jett swooped effortlessly in front of her.

"Whoa!" Scott exclaimed as Kitty darted through his chest. "Watch it!"

The phase-maniac ignored him, eyes focused on the wall of the kitchen. If she could just get there she could phase through and grab the last waffles before her winged rival. Unfortunately for her, running is slower than flying.

Jett swooped down and through the door, knowing that if she stopped Kitty would catch up easily. She emerged moments later with a plate of waffles.

"Triumph!" she cried, and promptly took a bite out of the waffles so Kitty wouldn't take them. Then she walked happily back to her seat, and the older mutant slunk back to her place, annoyed.

"I may not remember much," Tyler said, grinning, "But I'm pretty sure that is the single weirdest thing I've ever seen.

Cess laughed and nodded. She and Tyler were the only people not involved in a race for as much food as they could find. The Professor had decided that it would be best for Tyler to do study at the Institute, so he could eat later. As for Cess, she just didn't feel hungry. Not full, just not hungry. Deciding she'd probably get hungry later, she'd grabbed half a piece of toast and settled back to watch Jett race various students for food. She really was a skilled flier, making her way past the various sharp corners and chandeliers of the Institute as if she'd been there her whole life.

"So, looking forward to school?" her new friend asked her, and Jett, who'd just arrived with her plate of waffles. Jett shuddered.

"Not if what Lila and Ethan said is true, and I'm willing to bet it is," the winged mutant said. Lila, across the table, nodded emphatically, then leaned across and ripped off a bit of unbitten waffle. Jett scowled at her.

"You're lucky you're not going," agreed Cessily.

Tyler had originally felt stupid and left out by the decision that he wouldn't go to Bayville High, but had warmed considerably to the idea as the other Institute residents told them about the attitude of the other, non-mutant students towards them.

"Yeah," the shape shifter replied. "I hope you guys will be okay."

"They'll be fine," said Lila, grinning. "_If_ they leave now, with Logan driving. You seriously don't want to end up in a car with Kitty as the driver."

"Especially," Ethan added, "If you just beat her to the last of the waffles."

Jett finished her waffles–with a bit of uninvited help from Lila– and got up. Cess, Ethan, and his mischievous sister followed suit.

"See you, Ty," said Jett, ruffling his hair.

"I am not a pet," he pouted irritably, swatting her hand away. Seeing this, Lila laughed and immediately messed up the younger mutant's hair as much as she could. He quickly morphed into a huge black panther and roared in her ear, then departed still feline, looking very dignified. The teens that had witnessed it laughed. It had been less than two days since Jett, Cess, and Tyler arrived at the mansion and while most had been at first wary of the shape shifting mutant because of his strange lack of memories, this had soon given way to the fact he was good-natured and fun to tease.

"Alright, twerps," announced Logan gruffly. "Anyone who doesn't want to walk to school will come to the garage now. Half-pint" he added, glaring at Kitty, "won't be driving for a while because of a certain fender bender incident. Now hurry up!"

….

Jett was used to being picked on. She was used to being hated. She was used to being ignored or picked on by teachers. While few had been so outright rude, she could deal with insults too.

What she wasn't used to happened during sport.

Right away she knew that there would be trouble. When she walked in, she quickly scanned the crowd and found she was the only mutant in her class. Oh dear. The second thing she noticed was the look the teacher was giving her. Cruel. Almost predatory.

Jett tensed immediately. She wore a coat over her wings, and wasn't taking it off just because some stupid Gym teacher told her to. Not that he had. He seemed to know her as a mutant as soon as she walked in the door. He'd probably been informed of her identity and mutation as soon as the Professor had enrolled her. All the rest of her teachers had.

"So," sneered the man, "The mutie has finally arrived."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, _flatscan_," Jett replied, using a word she'd borrowed from Lila and used every time someone called her a mutie. Inside, she was terrified. But normally empathetic individuals did not extend such feelings to mutants, so it was better just to fake self-assurance.

Mr Flatscan glowered at her, then turned to his class. "You see, when we win the war against mutie freaks, they'll have some _respect_ for us normal humans."

This received a cheer from the class. The door shut behind her and Jett realised she'd been locked into the gym with thirty odd mutant hating humans who, she now noticed, had been armed with baseball bats and hockey sticks.

_Okay_, Jett thought to herself. _This already bad first day just got way worse_.

"All this, for little old me?" she asked casually, heart beating so hard and so fast it blurred into a steady rumbling in her ears. "Aw, you shouldn't have."

Just as she was deciding not to worry about expulsion and fly as hard as she could into the window on the hope that it would smash and she could fly out, the girl who'd locked the doors brought her weapon – a metal pole from the high jump – crashing down on Jett's shoulder. She cried out in pain, but the worst was yet to come. The class surged forwards, beating the fifteen-year-old mutant to the ground with blows to the head, neck, shoulders and legs, at which point some of them kept clubbing her, while others dropped their weapons and started kicking girl, pushing her back down every time she tried to recover. Jett reached for an abandoned hockey stick with her left hand, her right trapped beneath her body, but the gym teacher stepped forwards and crushed her arm beneath his boot. Tears of pain welled in her eyes as she felt the durable but lightweight bones in her wrist splinter and break.

Jett was a pretty good fighter in her own right, but she had been taken by surprise, was hopelessly outnumbered, and didn't dare draw attention to her wings in case the students decided to attack them instead of just her general body. Her wings were strong but nothing could withstand this kind of attack.

These were just kids, following the instructions of an adult, because they'd been taught by other adults that hating mutants was right. It wasn't _all_ their fault. So she turned her face as much as she could and glared at the gym teacher.

"If we ever do have a war," she hissed hoarsely. "Humans and mutants, I mean. If ever war breaks out, I'm going to _hunt you down_."

He smirked. "Stupid freak thinks she's going to survive this," he crooned softly, smiling cruelly down at her. Then he grabbed the hockey stick she'd reached for and brought it down on her back.

_They're going to kill me_, Jett realised in horror after the haze of red hot pain cleared momentarily from her mind. _I'm not going to get out of here alive._

One of the boys kicked her in the head and her vision blurred at the edges. She wouldn't last much longer. So she turned back to the teacher.

"Fuck. You," she choked out, and _screamed_.

…

"Are you sure it was Jett?" asked Cess as they ran towards the gym.

"Positive," Lila replied. Her brother ran on the other side of Cessily. They had had Art class together, and had been in the process of being pushed around by a few classmates because of their obvious mutations when a piercing scream had every class within hearing distance out on the oval. When the origin of the scream had been identified as the gym, Lila had set off running, calling to Cess and Ethan that Jett was in trouble.

"Oh God, Lils," Ethan exclaimed. "None of the Thugs were in class today!"

"Isn't that– Oh, shit!" Lila ran faster and Cess looked worriedly at Ethan.

"Who are the Thugs?" she asked as they bolted towards the gym doors. Ethan, slightly in front, slowed his pace the tiniest bit so she could catch up.

"That's what we call mutant bashers. Coach Teague practically trains them. I wonder who Jett's gym teacher is," he added sarcastically. Cessily paled, as much as it was possible for a girl whose body was made of mercury to pale.

"Wait, Ethan,' she caught his shoulder as they reached the door. "How many are there?"

He paused. "About forty," he admitted.

"We can't take them all, even if we use our powers. Got a phone?"

Ethan tossed her his mobile, understanding what she wanted to do. "I've got the Institute on contacts. Tell them where we are and that Jett's in trouble. And for God's sake," he added as another cry of pain came from the gym, this time definitely Jett. "_Hurry_!"

…

It was Logan who picked up. He was halfway through demanding who this was when a worried female voice interrupted him.

"Mr Logan, it's Cess! Jett's hurt! I mean, they're still hurting her! There's too many of them for us to fight off by ourselves, please, you have to come! Hurry! I've got to go, bye!"

Logan stood in shock for a moment, but it didn't last long. This was Cessily, so it was obviously serious. The Canadian ran to garage, yelling to Beast to come with him. He got on his motorcycle and took off, Beast following him in the X-Van.

Logan would be at the school in less than five minutes, but he wasn't sure it was fast enough. What he was sure of was that when he got there, whoever was hurting one of his students would be very, very sorry.

Nobody messed with the X-Men and got away with it.

_Nobody_.

…

Ethan had last seen Jett only two periods ago, but much had changed. When he got a quick look at her while zapping away a student wielding a hockey stick, he saw that she was curled into a ball on the ground, blood dripping down her forehead. She held her left arm to her chest with her right hand, and he saw through her paper white fingers that there was bone sticking out from her wrist. What he could see of her skin was either white with fear, dark with bruises, or red with blood, and her hair was soaked with the crimson liquid. She wasn't moving.

Coach Teague literally threw Cessily into the shards of glass from the broken window they had entered by. Cess got up unharmed, but uncharacteristically angry. As she slammed the coach into a nearby wall, Ethan realised she'd probably seen Jett too.

As for Lila, she had definitely seen Jett, and had promptly grabbed a discarded baseball bat and was fighting off at least six Thugs, most of which were twice her (rather small) size.

Other students had come in, and some had joined the fray trying to attack the young mutants, but most hung back, watching. Ethan was wearing down and wondering how they were ever going to get out of this when he heard thunder overhead. Then Beast and Logan burst though the crowd.

Logan took one look at the people around the room, then marched in and let out his claws with a quite audible _snikit_. Almost everyone stopped and Beast took the opportunity to hurry to the unmoving Jett's side.

"Listen, you lot!" Logan roared, and the few still trying to fight stopped. "You've had your fun – your sick, disgusting, sadistic _fun _– beating up a kid half your size with numbers thirty to one. But it's over now, do you hear me?! So leave, or things are going to get messy," he added in a low voice, and demonstrated by cutting an aluminium softball bat into pieces with his claws. The group of mutant haters blanched and, realising they were out of their depth, quickly moved out. One tried to land one last blow on Jett, curled up on the floor, but Beast growled at them and they reconsidered. Another had the misfortune to take a swing at Logan and wound up crashing into the wall, out cold.

"Go back to class," Logan growled at the mob of students watching. Seeing his claws and the unconscious boy on the gym floor, they hastened to do so. Cess, Ethan and Lila had rushed to Jett's side as soon as they could, but Beast couldn't get a word out of her.

"She's breathing," he informed them. "Probably in shock, poor girl. We need to get her back to the Institute."

"You'd better come too," Logan added gruffly to the young mutants. "Unless I'm mistaken, you three are probably expelled."

They made their way to the X-Van. Kurt and Rogue saw them as they walked to detention together. "Mein Gott," Kurt breathed when he saw Jett's state. "I hope she is not hurt."

"She certainly doesn't look capable of racing for waffles," Rogue commented, but her tone gave away her concern.

_Would Jett ever be the same again?_

_

* * *

_

_**I'm sorry! I hope it wasn't badly written as well as violent, I'm not good at this sort of thing. Please don't hurt me (equals: No Flames, please!) The next chapter will be better :)**_

_**In the meantime, Please Review!**_


	6. Glow

A/N: Last updated in... Wow. I suck. I would apologise a million times, but I think its better to just let you get on with reading the chapter without listening to me make excuses :P

Happy New Year everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or Cessily Kincaid. I own Jett Onyx, Lila and Ethan Dalton, Tyler, and Aura.

* * *

In the previous chapter: Cessily, Jett, and Tyler are settling in at the Institute, and they come to their first day of school. The professor has decided it would be best for Tyler to learn at the Institute while Cess and Jett go to Bayville High with Lila and Ethan. Jett is attacked by a large group of mutant hating students, ring-led by the gym coach, Coach Teague. Cessily, Lila, and Ethan used their powers in school to try and help her. The are eventually rescued by Logan and Beast, who take an injured and barely conscious Jett back to the Institute for medical attention, along with Cessily, Lila and Ethan, who are presumably expelled for using their powers in school.

* * *

Cess couldn't help but feel like someone had just ripped the bottom off her world.

The glassy, fearful look in Jett's grey eyes as she was carried to the med-bay chilled the silver girl to the bone.

She wished that Dr McCoy had told them that Jett would be alright. She wished he'd taken a look at her, checked her vital signs and said, "She's just in shock. Don't worry, she'll be fine in a few hours." Then they could've let go of the breath they'd all been holding. Then they wouldn't have to worry.

As it was, everyone was just going to hold that breath a little bit longer. The doctor's actual diagnosis was, "She's lost quite a bit of blood; she'll need a transfusion. Ethan, Lila, Cessily, could you please go the Professor's office? He needs to speak to you."

And so there they were, standing around outside Xavier's office as he took an important phone call. Cess didn't understand how he could do something normal like that when that had just happened to one of his students.

Well actually, she sort of did. After all, Jett hadn't been his best friend.

Cess shook her head vigorously, sending her red locks flying. Is. She is your best friend. For some reason, the silver girl was having trouble thinking of Jett in present tense. It was as if the winged girl's soul had been torn from her body, leaving an empty shell, covered in bruises and staring aimlessly through glassy grey eyes.

Ethan placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. She turned her head to look at him. "Okay, stupid question. But is there anything we can help you with?"

"You know, like volunteering to help you hunt down everyone responsible for what happened to Jett?" Lila suggested, but there wasn't a spark of humour in her dark eyes. Cess could tell by her tone that she was deadly serious.

"Don't even think about it," came a deep male voice as the doors opened and the Professor rolled out. His face seemed to be etched in stone as he looked solemnly around at the three young mutants. "Violence is never an appropriate solution, no matter how despicable the offence. Come in. There are matters we need to discuss."

After exchanging quick looks of trepidation, Cess and the twins followed Xavier into the office.

…

Everything was white. White walls, white carpet, white cat. White statues, white curtains, rice paper partitions. Metre thick white marble walls, however, and a thick, wooden door kept prying ears from hearing what was said inside, and if any would-be listeners came too close to the entrance, white suited men would quickly relieve them of their ears.

"Not," explained the white-clad woman at the head of the table, "that the help would ever pry. I only employ the most trustworthy of servants. Still, one can never be too careful." She carelessly flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, and the other occupants of the room were given a quick glance of her sparkling, razor sharp nails. She regarded the other eleven figures with glittering eyes.

"Yes," said a dark haired man down near the other end of the table. "One can never be too careful. So what I would like to know is why you chose to dispose of your two, ahem, protégés in such an unusual way."

The White Queen glowered. "You said yourself that they were too weak to be any use. It was simply killing two birds with one stone to strengthen our connections with the F-O-H."

"But they failed to put a scratch on the boy before he escaped!" the man exclaimed. "And there are rumours of him being picked up by the X-Men! Surely he'll tell them all he knows of us–"

"Which is nothing," the Queen cut in swiftly. "I wiped his memories the night he left. I'll be surprised if he even remembers he existed before then."

"And God forbid the White Queen be surprised," someone muttered darkly, but was ignored.

"And I recommend you hold your tongue in future, Shinobi," Spoke up a blond, also white suited man sitting in a chair to the right of the woman. "You're only a Rook: you don't have the station to question the White Queen's actions."

Shinobi ground his teeth but kept quiet. Someone at the opposite end of the table broke the tense silence.

"Anyway, they managed to rid us of the other one quite well, didn't they?" he asked, smiling a cold, humourless grin that didn't reach his dark eyes. The White Queen nodded tersely.

"Yes," she replied, her icy blue eyes boring into his. "Alyssa Shade is dead."

…

The black car turned up into the driveway, fallen sticks and leaves crunching under the tyres. Stopping at the wrought iron gates, the tinted driver's side window descended and a blond man looked out.

"Identify yourself," crackled the speaker in tones of none other than Scott Summers. The man smiled faintly.

"Warren Worthington," he said loudly and clearly, then added, "The third," in case it was a recording that might think it was Warren's father dropping in for a visit.

Lucky for him, it wasn't, and Cyclops' relieved voice came through the speaker.

"Warren, come in. What brings you to the Institute?"

The gates swung open smoothly, and about fifteen self-standing laser guns pointing straight at him disarmed and shut down. Warren raised an eyebrow.

"Tell you inside," he replied and began the drive up towards the house. Guns sank back into the ground as he drove, and the gates closed silently behind them.

…

Warren pulled up to the building with relief. The guns were starting to freak him out. Cutting the engine, he looked back at his passenger. She was hugging herself and staring silently at the back of the seat. Her dark hair was tied in a rough ponytail and her blue eyes glowed in the darkness.

But then again, so did the rest of her.

"This is it." She looked up at his words. Trying not to show his discomfort at her luminous stare, he continued. "They're expecting us. Come on."

He opened the door and climbed out. He strode towards the front door, not bothering to lock the car. If anyone could get past the Mansion's security system unhindered, a simple car lock probably wouldn't bother them.

He was almost to the giant front doors when they were pulled open from inside. Beast stood in the doorway, looking troubled.

"Dr McCoy? What's wrong?" Warren asked tentatively. Cyclops stood not far behind him, and was about to say something when the doctor answered.

"Warren, good to see you. What blood type are you?"

Stunned by this strange question, Warren answered instantly. McCoy brightened considerably.

"Excellent. Come with me," he said, steering Warren down the hallway.

"Scott, I brought a new student," Warren called over his shoulder as Beast dragged him towards the med-bay. "She's outside; take her to see the Professor."

"A new student?" Scott started to ask, but he was talking to an empty hallway. He turned to look through the open front door, and saw a figure slipping out of the car.

She looked about fifteen, a bit shorter that Cessily and Jett, with shoulder length brown hair. Her skin was paper white and unmarked. Mostly, she looked pretty average, but Scott felt his eyes widen slightly as the girl closed the car door and the light went out.

Seeing him looking, she half smiled and shrugged. She was used to people staring.

Scott blinked once, then twice, and then a third time before he was forced to accept what he saw.

The girl was glowing neon blue.

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Thank you for reading, and please review!

No Flames, please.


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